Part 27 (1/2)
Sebastian gazed at him critically and then grabbed his chart. ”What, are you a doctor now too, Prince Sebastian?” Blaze laughed.
”No,” he said with a grin. ”But I did use to play rugby actually. I liked that I got to beat up on people because it was not generally a proper royal thing to do.” He winked at Blaze who smiled. ”And I know that when playing rugby you're much more likely to hurt your knee or your shoulder. How did you manage to break your arm like that? Not really easy to do by my calculation, even if you're the new guy.”
There was silence for a moment before Sebastian continued. ”Blaze, what did you do?”
”Made a horrible calculation apparently.” The ruse only lasted for a moment before he continued on in a completely different tone of voice. ”I didn't count on him being such a coward. Or having friends quite that h.o.m.ophobic.” He paused for another moment. ”It's cliched to say but really, you should see the other guys.”
”Was it -?” Sebastian didn't even need to finish the sentence, Blaze's nod filling in the blanks. ”Kat is going to kill you when she finds out. And she'll find out when they get back together in a few weeks. That's how it always goes, right?”
Blaze met his gaze, straight on. ”I was hoping you were gonna help me with that.” And his meaning was impossible to misconstrue.
Sebastian smiled a bit ruefully and looked down at the floor, contemplating. ”Your sister doesn't feel that way about me. She's made that crystal clear.”
Blaze barked a laugh. ”Really? You think my careful, practical, planning sister, she just hops off to corners unknown, leaving me by myself, for just anyone?”
”I didn't give her much of a choice.”
”Kat has perfected the art of saying no Sebi. She always finds a way, even when she'd rather not. She never does anything, Anything, she doesn't want to. Anything.”
”Okay. Anything. Got it.”
”How many times did she do you?”
Sebastian was taken aback by that question. ”Wow. I was not expecting that.” Now he knew how Kat must have felt, staring down the twin inquisitions of his mother and sister. ”I'm going to respectfully decline to answer.”
”Kat says you're engaged.”
Sebastian took a deep breath. ”Kat would be . . . wrong.”
”Do you still have none?” At the quizzical look on the Prince's face, he added, ”Intentions, I mean.”
”I have quite a few now actually.” There was that rueful smile again. ”But it doesn't seem like they matter. We had a scene outside. She doesn't want me anywhere near her.”
”Pay attention Prince Pretty Boy, I'll only say this once.” Blaze paused for a moment before continuing. ”You know, my sister is not perfect, far from it. She's sarcastic and biting and pushy and opinionated and stubborn. And witty and gorgeous and unappreciated. And blind to it all. She doesn't need someone to take care of her she can manage that better than anyone I know. She needs someone to value her. I don't know anyone that deserves to be treated like a princess more.”
Sebastian was quiet. ”Is that what you see when you look at me? Just a pandering Prince, just a t.i.tle.”
”No. I see a s.e.xy, teasing, handsome charmer that, though I don't understand it, seems made for my sister. I could be wrong; this could be how you always are and I'm making an irrevocably big mistake laying it all on the line and telling you this. But somehow I don't think so. I've never, in my whole life, seen Kat s.h.i.+ne the way she does when she's with you. And I'm not going to let me stand in the way of that. Or lay, as the case may be.”
”Kat? Kat?!” Blaze asked as he laughed, throwing a towel in her face to get her attention. ”Kat.”
”What?” she asked a bit crossly, readjusting in her chair so she wasn't half slumped over her breakfast.
”You haven't heard a word I said.”
”I was listening,” she protested, but not very heartily.
”Yeah? Then what did I say?”
”Uhhhh” was all she managed.
”I said I wanted to go off and streak through Central Park. Your response? I validate that.” She looked a little chagrined.
”Listening when I said I wanted to go to school to become a phlebotomist.”
”You faint at the sight of blood,” she interjected.
”I validate that,” he mimed in her voice, completely ignoring her now. ”When I said Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny secretly run a candy conglomerate. I validate that.”
”Now you're just being stupid.” She threw the towel back at him and stood, placing her now soggy and barely touched cereal in the sink.
”Where's your head at Kat? You've been in benign sister defense mode for days and it's starting to freak me out.”
”Nothing's wrong with me, I'm fine.” It was so simple to keep on lying; it wasn't even difficult for her to meet his eyes.
”No honey nothing's wrong with me, I'm fine. You're something else entirely.”
”You're not fine,” she said, eyes glancing furtively at the light blue cast on his arm. And the hand braced against him so as not to disturb the broken ribs.
”I am,” Blaze protested, taking two steps and putting her in shaking range. ”I'm fine. You can't go on worrying about me Kitten. All it's gonna give you is a headache.”
”From all the thinking I'm not used to?” she mused, an attempt to lighten the mood.
But Blaze didn't take it. ”From all the stress. You have an Atlas complex little sister.”
”Look who's spent too much time talking to Gio.”
”The weight of the world does not rest on your shoulders. My life and decisions are not yours to contend with,” Blaze continued.
”But look what happens. I leave for a few days and you end up in the hospital.”
”I would have ended up there anyway. I really sucked at rugby. You wouldn't have been able to stop me from going.”
She gave him an arrogant, skeptical look and he couldn't stifle a laugh. ”I'm an expert at stopping you Blaze. I could teach a master cla.s.s in it.”
”But it's time I stop letting you. I'm capable of doing a lot more on my own than you give me credit for honey. But you needed to mother me; you needed that plan and that control. You needed it so I let you have it. But now you need to know that I'm not broken and you can't hide behind me anymore.”
”I'm not hiding,” she protested, hands quickly finding their way to her hips.
”Kat, what do you want to do with your life?” The question came out of nowhere and caught her off guard. She never thought about want; her plans were always a necessity, always a need. Needed to go work so they were able to keep the heat on. Needed to learn to cook so they wouldn't starve. Needed to encourage Blaze so that he wouldn't fall into a depressive episode. Need, need, need.
”I don't know,” she answered truthfully. Though the Royal ballroom floated through her mind. So perfect, so pretty she had helped with that.
”Don't you think it's time you found out?”
She let the softly asked question sit there between them for a moment but she was afraid. Afraid of answering and having everything change. Afraid of answering and having everything stay the same. Afraid of not finding any answers at all.